With the World Athletics Championships scheduled after four months and the Olympics after 14 months, Asian Games gold medallist triple jumper Arpinder Singh is thankful to have some surety about his approach to these mega events.
Without any concrete response from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) authorities about his plan to train under American coach Jeremy Fischer in Chula Vista, Arpinder was confused.
However, the JSW-backed athlete got the clarity when he trained for a few days under Antony Yaich, the chief athletics coach of the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) here.
"I wanted them to send me there (USA) for five or six months. Eventually, I went there in the last week of December. My approval was only for two months. That whole group of triple jumpers under Fischer has been working for the World Championships since then. He couldn’t have taken me in the middle of his programme.
"When I came back to India, I was not ready to compete...I wanted to go back in the end of March itself. But that approval has still not come. There was neither a coach nor a training partner. So it was getting a little difficult,” said Arpinder.
Arpinder gained some confidence and hope after training for 10 days with Frenchman Yaich. “He is a good coach, explains everything. Now even if the approval comes, I would like to train with Yaich.
"He understands that there are only a few months left for the Worldchampionships. If you change everything, your performance will be affected. We are changing only the biggest mistakes in my technique. My upper body leans forward a little during my performance, so he is asking me to keep it more stable.
"He is also making me keep my arm motion straighter rather than moving fromthe side. That could affect my balance. He has told me to relax my shoulder blades. He has also reduced my run-up by two metres (42m to 40m). He wants me to charge ahead in the first eight to 10 metres.
"When I run, my back kick was too much. It was not the right running posture. That was also affecting my speed,” said Arpinder.
The stylish jumper is taking one step at a time and focusing on the World championships at the moment. “I will be ready in two months. I hope to touch 17m in a few months...I hope to reach the qualifying mark (16.95m) for Worldchampionship in inter-state competitions (in Kolkata in July).”
Arpinder said he would stick to Yaich even for his preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.
( The writer was in Vijayanagara on the invite of Inspire Institute of Sport )
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